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By BRIAN WITTE

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal judge in Maryland promised on Thursday to rule as soon as possible on whether to order the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from immigration custody.

Abrego Garcia’s mistaken deportation to El Salvador in March, in violation of an earlier court settlement, has galvanized both sides of the debate over President Donald Trump’s immigration policies . Since his return to the United States in June, the government has been seeking to deport him to a series of African countries . His attorneys claim the government is illegally using the immigration system to punish Abrego Garcia for the embarrassment of having to admit that his earlier deportation was in error.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of

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